Malaysia: Tapir wanders into housing area

ALANG BENDAHARA New Straits Times 21 Aug 14;

SEREMBAN: A female tapir weighing 300kg believed to have been lost was found in a gated residential area of Sri Carcosa in Seremban 2 here today.

Residents of the elite neighbourhood adjoing a forest noticed the Malayan tapir or its scientific name Tapirus indicus (also called the Asian tapir) wandering around at 7.30am and reported it to the state Malaysian Civil Defense Department (JPAM).

Civil Defense personnel along with state Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) were sent to the location to save the animal.

State Perhilitan director Wan Mat Wan Harun said their joint team surrounded the tapir to force it to enter the trap installed there.

"The trapped animal was then given treatment by veterinary officers and later tagged with marking chip for us to detect animal in the future," he said yesterday.

Wan Mat said the tapir was then released back into a Perhilitan protected area in the state.